Kyle Busch, perhaps more than any driver, needed to get off to a fast start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. The two-time champion entered the season approaching nearly three years since his last win and back-to-back campaigns with no playoffs.
Busch, after six races, is 23rd in the points standings. After a 21st-place finish Sunday at Darlington Raceway, former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin is officially pushing the panic button. Hamlin believes Busch is “searching,” and he’s not convinced all of the issues are the fault of Richard Childress Racing.
“It is noteworthy that last week, Austin Dillon was not as bad as Kyle Busch, right?” Hamlin said Monday on Actions Detrimental. “I think we really gotta put everything into perspective and yes, the organization is probably not where they wanted to be, but if one of them is running last and the other is running 16th… if Kyle is great like we all believe he is, then he should be eighth, but he wasn’t.
“I think he’s searching right now. It’s just my opinion, but he’s just trying to figure something out, and I don’t know, I can’t put it all on RCR. Yeah, they’re not race-winning teams right now. They don’t have that pace, but they don’t have 30th-place pace. That’s something that driver-individual team has a role in.”
Kyle Busch mired in career slump in NASCAR
Busch’s winless streak, which dates back to June 2023, is now up to 99 races. The 40-year-old has stalled out at 63 career wins, still good enough for ninth on the all-time wins list.
Set winning aside, however, Busch simply is finding it difficult to run inside the top-15 on most days. That’s the part of this slump that has to be hard for Busch to wrap his head around. Sure, the Next Gen car doesn’t exactly suit his driving style, but should it look like this?
There’s still plenty of season left and perhaps Rowdy can find his old form. Right now, it doesn’t look good for Busch, whose contract with RCR is up after the 2026 season.